....his playing style is a complete break from the tradition of his countrymen, just as Hewitt is from the Aussie tradition. After seeing plenty of struggling wildcards during the grass-court season over the last few years, it is amazing to watch a British player who can cope when his serve comes back, who has margin for error on his shots, who can make great defensive saves and passing shots, who can hold his nerve at the big moments, who can grind down fellow baseliners from the back of the court.

And importantly, although the press here will now immediately declare him this year's Wimbledon champion in waiting, they mustn't be allowed to use him as a smokescreen to cover up the failings of British tennis as they have done with Henman and Rusedski. Just like Henman, Murray is not a product of the LTA system, and it shows - as well as his gameplan against most opponents, the technique on his strokes tells you a lot about his claycourt training and upbringing in Spain. Not that I'm complaining, mind you; that may be the first time I've seen someone wear Hewitt down and beat him at his own game in a match of this importance, certainly outside clay.

federated

02-20-2006, 02:28 AM

excellent points.

gusman890

02-20-2006, 02:39 AM

amen to that brother !

ReturnWinner

02-20-2006, 02:40 AM

I agree with u Sengster the most of the variety in murray´s game is coz he got formed on clay, that is not a mery coincidence

the most of the best current baseliners "were born" or played very much on clay in their junior times

spanish/argentines/chileans,federer,safin,davydenko and even the croats (ancic and ljubicic not karlovic :p) and some other players

and to think so many people say clay sucks and is boring :o

Sjengster

02-20-2006, 02:44 AM

Murray has now played every member of the current Top 5 except Nadal, and only failed to win a set against Federer; I certainly hope for a meeting with Nadal sometime this year, not that I would expect him to win, but it would be an excellent barometer for his groundstroke ability and consistency to play against the best claycourter in the world. And on hard, he might make it a competitive match, although I get the feeling Nadal would expose the physical gulf between them like he did with his other contemporaries, Monfils and Gasquet, on clay last year.

Federerthebest

02-20-2006, 02:49 AM

this isn't a good thing

both australia and britain were two of the few countries keeping the flame of serve-volley alive

now their top players are baseliners, these countries which are the home of grasscourt tennis. australia ripping up grasscourts and putting in claycourts instead :help:

all it means is less variety in the game :wavey:

rofe

02-20-2006, 02:51 AM

this isn't a good thing

both australia and britain were two of the few countries keeping the flame of serve-volley alive

now their top players are baseliners, these countries which are the home of grasscourt tennis. australia ripping up grasscourts and putting in claycourts instead :help:

all it means is less variety in the game :wavey:

Yeah it is sad but that is what the game seems to be gravitating towards. All the more reason for players to develop a good volley to use it as a surprise element in matches.

Sjengster

02-20-2006, 02:51 AM

We'll see. For a start, Murray is not numero uno in Britain yet, though it is probably a matter of time. And secondly, while his game is baseline-orientated that doesn't mean he can't volley, obviously your net approaches have to be very sparing against Hewitt but he knows how to play at the net when he gets up there and as I said in the match result thread, he used his slice a lot to good effect at crucial moments.

helen phillips

02-20-2006, 03:09 AM

Also like Hewitt the young Murray proved at the Aussie Open he could be a bit of a knob. So the similarities are not all tennis.

NYCtennisfan

02-20-2006, 03:46 AM

I don't think you will see any true serve-volleyers anymore. You might see some players with a big serve S/V on grass or other fast surfaces on their 1st serve, but a true S/V'er...hmmm.

The ironic thing is that advanced racquet technology which gave almost everyone the ability to hit a 125 mph first serve (almost nobody could do it 15 years ago) has made it possible to hit shots with pace from behind the baseline and even on the run consistently which makes volleying difficult. In today's game, you hardly see a big serve dominating at the top of the game like Sampras did, or Goran did, or Becker did. Even Roddick's winning % on first serves pales in comparison to those guys. Go through some of the stats on the ATP site and you will see that Sampras and Goran were CONSISTENTLY winning 85% or more on their first serves. It's just not the case anymore, and that includes the biggest serve of all time (Roddick's), the giant serve of Ivo, or anyone else.

NYCtennisfan

02-20-2006, 03:49 AM

We'll see. For a start, Murray is not numero uno in Britain yet, though it is probably a matter of time. And secondly, while his game is baseline-orientated that doesn't mean he can't volley, obviously your net approaches have to be very sparing against Hewitt but he knows how to play at the net when he gets up there and as I said in the match result thread, he used his slice a lot to good effect at crucial moments.

I'd love to see Murray develop his attacking game because he can hit some really penetrating shots from the back of the court but often lets his opponents slice their way back into the point. He has some pretty decent technique on his volleys and he has good reach. Working on this and working on making his 1st serve consistent could portend some really good things for Murray.

NATAS81

02-20-2006, 04:06 AM

Thank god that true tennis fans still exist on this forum.

Didn't watch a whole lot of the Roddick match, but he's got the patience to allow his talent to push him as far as it can go.

You all know what a certain Swiss guy can do when he puts it all together behind a calm demeanor.

From listening to this thread and the people watching Murray's final live, he's an apparent shotmaker as well when he needs to be.

He still needs to allow himself to grow under certain situations and things that he thinks about now, such as serving deep into a match, will become second nature and he will be able to hold serve quite easily and let that patience dictate more on the return side.